Doing It
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Andromeda is fairly sure she loves Rabastan, but she isn't quite sure if she's ready for... that. Written for Taragh McCarthy's Word Limit Competition on the HPFC forum.


Author's Notes: Written for Taragh McCarthy's Word Limit Competition on the HPFC forum.

_Word Limit - 1500 Words (100 word allowance)  
Prompt - Go All The Way_

Exactly 1 500 words. Enjoy!

)O(

"So, are you going to do it, then?" Bellatrix asked.

Andromeda, who had been sprawled on her stomach with her nose in a book, looked up, mildly perturbed by her sister's interruption and abrupt question, and even more so when Bellatrix sat down on her bed, kicking the book lightly away from her face. Andromeda closed it over one finger to keep her place, then propped her chin up on her hand to meet Bellatrix's eyes.

"Do what?"

Bellatrix stared at her sister as though she was an idiot. "Sleep with Rabastan, of course," she said, like it ought to have been obvious. "You two have been together for _ages._ You're engaged, for God's sake, and you know there's going to be a wedding as soon as I've been married off to Rodolphus. You aren't planning to get married to him while you're still a virgin, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Andromeda said defensively. Her cheeks had gone bright pink. "What's wrong with being a virgin when you're married? Just because you and Rodolphus have been sleeping together since you turned twelve…"

"That's not true, and it's crude of you to say," Bellatrix told her coolly. "I never thought you were the type to slut-shame. Just because I'm not scared to open my legs for my boyfriend…"

"I never thought _you_ were the type to try to pressure someone into sex," Andromeda snapped back. "Maybe Rabastan and I have discussed it and decided to wait."

"Have you?"

Andromeda flushed an even darker shade of pink. She and Rabastan had never even _begun_ to talk about sex. Rabastan had never brought it up, it was something that Andromeda had assumed they would not discuss until they were married, and she had been quite pleased with that. Sex was such an_ awkward_ subject…

"Well…" she said slowly.

"I thought not," Bellatrix interrupted, not bothering to wait until Andromeda finished her sentence. "Well, when are you going to talk about it, then?"

"After we're married!"

"That's beyond pathetic, Andromeda," Bellatrix said, sneering. "_Everyone_ sleeps with their fiancé before the wedding."

"You and Rodolphus are not _everyone_."

"There you go with the slut-shaming again…"

"Maybe," Andromeda fumed, "unlike you and Rodolphus, Rabastan and I don't _need_ to sleep together before we're married to know that we love each other. I suppose you never even considered that! Some people rely on more than sex to know they care about someone!"

"Such people are foolish," Bellatrix said dismissively. "What else is there to rely on?"

"Conversations… shared interests… mutual respect…"

Bellatrix snorted. "Oh, please. That's called being _friends_ with someone, not being in _love_ with them." She paused for a moment, tapping one finger against her lip. "Or… maybe there's another reason you're not sleeping with Rabastan, hmm? There isn't any chance that our sweet, chaste little Andi is 'in love' with someone _else_, now, is there? Someone who she'd prefer to lose her virginity to, rather than Rabastan?"

Andromeda's face went bright red. "Don't you _dare–_"

"And, hmm, it must be someone you don't want me knowing about, or you'd just tell me… could it be that Andi's fallen for… hmm… fallen for a girl, maybe? Or…" Bellatrix's voice took on a dangerous tone, "or a Mudblood?"

Andromeda balled her hands into fists and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. She closed her book, stood up, and, with all the dignity she could muster, exited the room. Her face was bright red and as soon as she was out of Bellatrix's sight, she trembled in anger. How dare Bellatrix make speculations like that? How _dare_ Bellatrix try to give her advice about her sex life? Bellatrix, who had lost her virginity as soon as she went off to Hogwarts with Rodolphus; Bellatrix, whose promiscuity was notorious among the Slytherins…

_And she was wrong!_ Andromeda told herself. Andromeda most certainly had _not_ fallen for a girl, or a Mudblood, or anyone except Rabastan. She loved him. Yes, she did, she loved him completely and wanted to marry him, and when she did lose her virginity, she wanted it to be with him.

Andromeda leaned against a wall, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

If that was the truth, though, she thought, why did the mere idea of sleeping with him before they were married bother her so much? It would only be a few months before their wedding – the whole thing was completely finalized. And they were both of age… it was almost as though they were married already.

Perhaps Andromeda was just being prudish. Perhaps she had spent too long listening to Druella's rants about why she should not lie with a man until she was married. Perhaps Bellatrix was right, and…

_Good god, Andromeda, you weak-willed little idiot! If this is how easily you cave to pressure…_

_She suggested I was in love with a Mudblood!_

That had stung badly, and Andromeda felt tears prickling at the backs of her eyes just thinking about it. It was bad enough for Bellatrix to suggest that she was even _close_ to being unfaithful to Rabastan when she, Andromeda, knew that she wasn't and that she never _ever_ would be, but to have it suggested that she would prefer a _Mudblood_ to him… that infuriated her.

_She said that to manipulate you, and it's working._

Andromeda gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. She hated feeling weak, as though she was giving in to Bellatrix's teasing – but why shouldn't she? Why shouldn't she sleep with Rabastan, just because Bellatrix said that she should? Maybe Andromeda _wanted_ to. She was old enough, and if the only real reason she hadn't done it already was because she and Rabastan hadn't talked about it… well, that was just _stupid_. If Andromeda slept with Rabastan now, well, maybe it wasn't just to prove Bellatrix wrong. Maybe she really did want to, and why should she deny herself that?

She shouldn't.

She marched into the parlour and flung a handful of Floo powder from the pot beside the fireplace into the fire before she could change her mind. She stepped into the flames, saying "Lestrange Manor", and when she stepped out into the Lestranges' parlour and saw Rabastan curled in his favourite armchair by the fire, she wasted no time marching over and kissing him hard.

Rabastan tensed up instantly. If Andromeda had been in a different, _better_, more sensible mood, she would have stopped – Rabastan was not the sort who tended to enjoy being touched, and he had often said to Andromeda that one of the things he appreciated most about her was that she knew that. But if she didn't kiss him right now, if she hesitated for even a moment, she would lose her nerve.

"Andi…" Rabastan mumbled against her mouth, pushing her back and staring at her. "Is something wrong? Why are you here?"

"Rabastan," she said, taking a deep breath and not letting herself falter, "I want to sleep with you."

"I…" He stared at her, confusion written all over his face. "P- pardon?"

"I want to sleep with you," she repeated, with a little less certainty now. "If… if you want to, I mean," she added. "If you don't, then that's fine…"

"No… it isn't that," he said quickly, "I mean, if you do, then I… well, I suppose I do, but… what brought this on?"

_My sister implying that I'm in love with a Mudblood because I'm not sleeping with you before we're married._

"Nothing," she lied smoothly. "I've just… been… wanting you for a long time," she added in a quiet purr. "And we're practically already married… so why not enjoy the benefits of marriage…?"

She rested her hands on his chest, slowly stroking it and undoing the buttons of his shirt. She leaned forward and caught his lips with hers, kissing him deeply while she crawled into his lap, grinding against him.

"Andromeda…" Rabastan moaned softly, his breath catching when her fingers brushed his bare skin. "Oh… are… are you sure about this? I mean… this is so sudden… and if you're not ready, I understand…"

"Oh, be quiet, Rab," Andromeda breathed. She pressed against Rabastan, her hand sliding down between his legs to touch him through his trousers, and her lips brushed lightly against his. "I do want to do this. I am ready."

_Ready to prove Bellatrix wrong_, she thought, but Rabastan did not need to know that was her motive. He did not need to know that it was Bellatrix who she was thinking of when he took her to his bedroom and laid her upon his bed. He did not need to know that Bellatrix was on her mind as he began to undress her.

And he most _certainly_ did not need to know that the single thought in her mind when they lay together in the pleasant afterglow was _That will teach Bellatrix to say I'm in love with a Mudblood._

)O(

_Fin_


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